Cord lock fitting



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m7 am #f4/A, ATTORNEYS United States Patenti-'O 7 2,872,976 Conn LOCK rrrTING HansK. Lorentzen, Montclair, N. J., assignor to Lorentzen Hardware Mfg. Corp., New York, N. Y., ay corporac tion of NewYork Original applicationOctober- 17, 1951, SerialNo.` 251,707,

now Patent No. 2,670,038, dated February 23, 1954. Divided and this application November`27, 1953, Sev rial-No. 394,605

4 Claims. (Cl. 160-173) the mechanism for raising the blind and tilting the slats of the blindis contained within a more or less 'enclosed head bar which may be formed of a sheet-metal channel extending along the `top of the'blind. This mechanism may consist of a tilter fitting mounted adjacent one end of the head bar,` a cord-lock fitting mounted adjacent the otherend, a tilt rod journalled in the tilter and cordlock fittings and extending longitudinally of' the head bar, and two or moretape rockers mounted on the `tilt rod and supporting the ladder tapes of the blind.

In the form shown of the present invention, the cordlock body is formed of a single unitary sheet-metal stamping having-an extended base adapted to be mounted on the `inside bottomwall of the head-bar'channel and extending towards the center of the blind and providing an integral, smooth `bearing for passage of a lift cord through the bottom wall of the nead bar adjacent a ladder tape. The cord-lock housing is formed to provide a smooth integral Vbearing for the depending looped end of the lift cordsyth-us eliminating the customary pulley.

Among the objects of the presentinvention are to provide a unitary cord-lock housing, including a cord-bearing surface for the lift cords; to provide a simpliedcord lock formed of a minimum number of parts, the body of whichmay easily be formed as a sheet-metal stamp- I ing; to provide an assembly which is durable and dependable in operation; and to generally improve on Venetian blind cord-lock littings. y

Further objects and objects relating to details and economies of construction and use will more definitely appear from the detailedr description to follow. j

My invention is clearly defined in the appended claims. In` theclaims, as well as in the description, parts y.are at times identified by specific names for clarity and convenience, but such nomenclature isto be understood as having thebroadest meaning consistent with theacon- `textand with the concept of my invention as distinguished from the pertinent prior art. Thel best mode in Which I have contemplated carrying out my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of the upper right corner of a Venetian blind, portions of the front wall of the head bar and portions of the lift cords and ladder tape being broken away for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the cord-locktting in position on the bottom wall of the head bar.

ICC

j i 2 Fig.'3 isa front elevation of the' cord-lock fitting, the bottom wallf oli` the'vhead bar b eing shown in section and the path-of one-of ,thelift,cords-being indicated..A

vEig.- 4 is a detail sectionxof-.thecord-lock fitting taken generallyon the, line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to=v Fig., y1, the Venetian blind thereishow is of the enclosed headbar type, in whichv the operating mechanism `ofthe blindis mounted on the inside bottom wall of Ya channelfsh'aped sheet-metalV headbar 10. The slats llofthefblind aresupported Vbythe customary lad der-tapes, oneladder ,taper1'2 being shown, theupper ends of whichvpa'ss jthrouglrs'lots 14, V14 -formedin the bottom wall of the head bar. The upper'ends of the ladder tape 12 are `secured totheitape rocker 15 which is mounted on` a tilt rod 1'6 that extends longitudinally of the head bar.` v

The tilt rod 16 islmountedfor rotation in a cord lock fitting 17 mounted adjacent one end of the `head bar and atilter (not shown) :mounted adjacent the other end ofthe head 'bar,"the tiltervrandlcordlock supporting `the tilt rod from thevbottom wall'iof the head bar. In the blind shown', the cord 'lock/is' located at the right-hand end of thehead'baxg'zbut thetittings can be madeof opposite hand, a cor'dr-lockbeing mounted' at the left-hand end of the head bar and a tilter at the right-hand end.

Lift .cords v19, 19 are reeved in the blind in the customary manner, the cords actually being formed of a single lengthof4 cord, the two ends of which are secured to the bottomfbar (n'obshown)j of theblind. The cords pass upwardly.V through aligned slots 20 in the slatsjand through-the bottomwll ofthefhead bar and ythen`lead through the cord lock' 17, aloop or bightof cord "21 hanging from the cordflock at ther-right-hand end ofthe blind. i .Both the .tilterand Ythe` cordloc'k 17 are provided with bearingstoprovide' a Vsmooth passage for the individual liftcor'd's throughlv the bottom wall of the head bar 10, thusieliminating'a separatecord guide for leading the lift cords down through jthe slats of the blind.

`The cord-lockltting of 'the present invention comprises a` stamped sheetlr'r'letal` cord-lock body 22 hav ing a1` generally hat, 'extehdedvbase'fz4 forming also the bottom"wall-ofI jthe-cordil'ock"housing and twospaced generally parallel `up'standing@side walls 2,5 v and 26 forming YthesideLwallsfof` thehous'ivng. `The end portion ofthe baser-24 towards the-centerfof the 'blindhas a lift-cord -bearingjZlfwhich preferably'c'ornprises a round'hole surrounded by araised integralrib'asshown to provide, a smooth bearing forfleadiiig'a lift cord downwardly through the slats ofthe blind. The form and arrangement-of this integral rib is described in more detail inmy Patent 2,670,038; `f Y The junction of the `bo'ttorr'l wall r24 of the cord-lock housing with the sidewalls 25"and 26 is cut at 29, 29, preferably by forming slots, and a portion of the Abottom vwall is transversely 'cutga'nd rolled vvupwardly to form a smooth, generallyicylindrical, lift-cord-bearing surface 30 extending; transversely b'etweenftheside walls 25 and 26 lof theV l cord-lock housing. The lift-cordebearing surface extends` through at least ,180", and preferably about 360, as-show`n,and provides a,srnooth` lift-cord bearing replacing'the pulley of* the customary cord lock. j j

The-imetaldisplacedfrom the bottom wall' 24 of the cord-lock housing in forming the lift-cord-bearing surface 30 provides an opening 31 in the housing for passage of the depending bight or loop 21 of the lift cords, this opening registering with an opening 32 in the head bar. Preferably, the bottom wall 24 of the cord-lock housing spans between the side walls on both sides of the opening 31 to reinforce the side walls 25 and 26 and to receive a tab for mounting the cord-lock fitting, as will be explained. An inwardly projecting bead 34 is formed in the loweimargin of the front Wall 25 of the housing opposite the cord opening 31 to provide a smooth bearling for passage of the lift cords past the lower edge f vthe wall and prevent fraying of the cord. R Y

A. locking dog 35 is pivotally'mountedon a riv'et 36 extending between the front and rear side walls 25 land 26 of the cord-lock housing. Thelocking dog 35 has la cordengaging body portion 37- and apair of parallel. ears 39, 39 extending from the two ends of the body portion and through which the rivet 36 passes. The locking dog 35 is mounted somewhattotheright-of the lift-cordbearing surface 30, as viewed in the drawings, so as to engage and lock the lift cords againstthe bearing surface 30. Preferably, the ears 39, 39 extend past the rivet 36 on the same side of the rivetas the-lift-cord-bearing surface 30 to provide a counterwight for-biasing thelocking dog counterclockwise as viewed in Pig. 3, towards nonlocking position. A tabA 40.may.be struck inwardly from the bottom edge portion of one of the side walls and into the path of the locking dog for limiting counterclockwise rotation of thelocking dog away fromhlocking position. .y

The body portion 37 lof thelocking dog may be formed generally U-shaped in...transverse.section toprovide a pair of toothed cord-engaging portions 41. and 42 for locking the cord against the bearingsurace 30. Preferably, the cord-engaging portion 42 projects slightly further from the rivet 36 thanthe portion 41.

The intermediate portion of the cord-lock-tting base 24 preferably is provided with van upwardly vdirected formation 44 which may be generally L-shaped in horizontal cross section. The formation 44, which may be formed as indicatedin the drawings, hasA an upwardly opening tilt-rod bearing 45 for receiving thecord-lock end of the tilt rod 16. A portion ofthe formation 44 lies across the axis of the bearing 45so as to form an end stop 46 spaced outwardly slightly, 'and a bendable iinger 47 on one side of the bearing 45 may be bent into position across the top of the, bearing afterv insertion of the tilt rod, so as to retain the tilt rod within the bearing. The linger 47 Ais generally similarv to that shown in Lorentzen U. S. Patent 2,262,949. l Y

vThe portion of the formation 44 surrounding the tiltrod bearing 45 forms a flat transverse surface ,from which an upwardly and inwardly directed tnger,49 may vbe stamped, the nger andthe lformation 44 together forming an rupwardly opening slotfor guide4 for receiving a radially extending. end ange50 of the adjacent tape rocker in order to restrictendwise movement of the tape rocker. The linger 49,'preferably extends a substantial distance horizontally away from the vertical face of the formation 44 to assurerorrect assembly ofthe tape rocker, as described, ingdetail in Patent 2,670,038.

The base 24 of the cord-lock tting may beprovided with a slot 51 adjacent the lift-cord bearing 27 tok receive a bendable tab 52 stamped from the bottom wall of the head bar 10, the tab being clinched `against the base to hold the tting in position. In addition, a second bendable tab 53 stamped from the bottom walll of the head bar to hold the fitting may be clinched against the righthand end ofthe base 24, as viewed in the'drawings, itting between the side walls and 26 of the cord-lock housing. f When the bight 21 of the lift cords is pulled downwardly to raise the blind, the locking dog 35 is moved counterclockwise as viewed in Fig'. 3 to release the cords,

after which the locking dog will continue to rotate until stopped by the tab 40, as indicated in the drawings. The lift cords may then be freely raised or lowered provided that the bight 21 of the cords is not moved to the right so as to engage the cords against the locking dog.

To hold the blind in any raised position, the bight 21 of the lift cords is moved to the right to engage the cords against the toothed cord-engaging portion 41. Then, upon release of the cords, the weight of the blind will carry the cords upwardly through the cord-lock housing and about the cord-guide-bearing surface 30, carrying the locking dog 35 clockwise until the locking dog wedges the'cords against'the surface 30 so as to lock the cords against further movement upwardly through the cord lock.

I claim: I

1. A unitary cord-lock fitting for an elongated Venetian blind head bar, said fitting comprising: a one-piece sheetmetal stamping having a generally tlat elongated base, the end portions of the basefbeing laterally offset from one another and being connected together by 'a diagonallydisposed intermediate portion, one of said end portions of the base having an opening for the passage of a single lift cord, andj the other of saidend portionsof the base having an opening for ,thepassa'ge of a plurality of lift cords; meansv to guide a cord passing from one of said openings to the other; and cord-locking means adjacent to the opening'for the passage of a plurality of lift cords.

2. A cord-lock itting as in claim 1 in which the cordguiding means includes parallel cheek membersl that are integral with, and extend upwardly from, .the opposite edges4 of that end portion of the base which is provided .With an opening for the passage of. a plurality of lift cords, and the cord-locking means is positioned between said cheek members. v

3. A cord-lock tting as in claim 2 in which the cordguiding means ,includes a lguidelmembver located between the cheek members,gand the vcord-locking means is a pivoted locking dogswingable toward and away vfrom said guide member to clamp and release the cords.

4. A cord-lock fitting as in claim 3 in which an integral finger is struck out fromvone of the cheek members and extends into the path of the locking dog to limit ythe movement, of the dog away from said guide member. y

References 4Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Armstrong ar Oct. 23, 1883 624,559 Spaulding May 9, 1899 828,906 Trusler Aug. 2l, 1906 1,661,045 Lee Feb. 28, 1928 2,198,187 Tolley Apr. 23, 1940 2,243,910 La Borda June'3, 1941 2,408,333 Nisenson Sept. 24, 1946 2,478,994 White Aug. 16, 1949 2,507,610 vNelson May 16, 1950 2,670,038 Lorentzen a Feb. 23, 1954 2,677,419 ARosenbaum May 4, 1954 2,696,879 Walker Dec. 14, 1954 f FOREIGN PATENTS 23,944 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1902 280,122 Switzerland Apr. 1, 1952 

